Singapore ship suspected in Kerala boat accident

The Indian authorities suspect that a Singapore-flagged ship may have been responsible for the collision with a boat in the Arabian Sea off Kerala March 1 that killed two Indian fishermen, a top maritime authority has said.

The ship, MV.Prabhu Daya, is suspected to be involved in the high seas incident with  fishing vessel Don-1, which later sunk off the Quilon coast, said the Directorate-General of Shipping (DGS) in a statement late Saturday night.

It was traced somewhere in the high seas following inputs from the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). The suspect vessel has been ordered to proceed to a convenient Indian port.

Accordingly to the DGS, the ship has agreed to divert to Chennai port where it is expected to reach sometime Monday.

The DGS' team from the Mercantile Marine Department, Kochi, will board the vessel to carry out its preliminary probe related to the hit-and-run incident.

Last Thursday, DGS had ordered an inquiry into the high seas incident in which the fishing vessel Don-1 was sunk, killing two fishermen, injuring two while three are missing.

ICG got into the picture, investigating relevant records to identify and trace the probable vessel involved in the case that had sparked an outrage in Kerala.

The hit-and-run tragedy involving the fishing vessel with seven fishermen aboard occurred March 1 morning around 1 a.m., 20 nautical miles off the Kochi harbour entrance.

The fishing vessel had left from Kollam for deep sea fishing with seven fishermen aboard a week ago.